politics

Modern Capitalism – The Marxist View: Part 2A

The feared “Soviet” secret service, the KGB, was always controlled by the the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency of the USA). As such, the CIA — KGB played an insidious and decisive role in the destruction of the Soviet Union.

Human labor-power is the unique commodity which has the capacity to produce additional value. Under capitalism, the value of the commodity labor-power, like any other commodity, is determined by the labor necessary for its production. Labor-power exists in the form of living workers, who require a definite amount of commodities (food, clothing, shelter, etc.) to live and produce new generations of workers. The labor-time needed to produce these commodities determines the value of labor-power. Thus, objectively for the capitalist class, the working person is nothing more than a “thing” to be worked hard, nearly starved, thrown out on the street if necessary, sent to fight in wars of aggression.

Capitalists seek to reduce wages to their physical minimum – just enough so that the working class can survive and reproduce. Especially during crises, employers may attempt to remunerate workers (pay wages) even below their value – leading to massive poverty and human misery, even starvation and death.

The working class, for its part, strives to survive and to raise its standard of living. This conflict is the root of the class struggle. Machinery, buildings and materials do not have to be “convinced” of anything; they are inanimate. Workers, however, are human beings and can think, organize and eventually overthrow their oppressors. Therefore, every attempt is made to make workers believe that capitalist society and capitalist governments are genuinely concerned about their welfare. Or, in any case, to foreclose any other alternative.

“Privileged workers” – a disappearing breed. Under modern capitalism-imperialism, certain groups of workers have become “privileged.” This category mainly applies to skilled and some unionized workers — mainly among the racially and nationally “superior” races — within the advanced capitalist countries The “privileged” receive higher wages and enjoy better living conditions than (a) the mass of oppressed minority workers and immigrants within the advanced capitalist countries and (b) those living in the colonial and neo-colonial “Third World” countries.

As the crisis within capitalism matures, there is currently a marked tendency for sustained attacks even against the “privileged” — attacks on their living and working standards, pensions, health care, etc. All in the name of “reform.”

When all the trappings are tossed aside, the working person from the capitalists’ standpoint is simply a “thing” necessary to further enrich the capitalists; under capitalism; workers have no other value.